Smithsonian puzzle thing

Today the last piece of the puzzle drops (which only grants access to the ultimate puzzle). Dr. Pookie has correctly divined that I have gotten perhaps too obsessed with this thing. She also notes that, if I want to take a trip to the Smithsonian, there are easier ways to do that.

Be that as it may...

Puzzlemeister Ken Jennings made a blogpost with some interesting info on how the puzzlers are doing so far. I'm a bit astonished to see that, as of last night, the number of correct solutions to the hideous puzzle #8 is... 17. That's quite some winnowing that's occurred, despite the twitterpation going on. And I'm one of the 17. As long as shad_0 isn't playing, I have pretty good odds, I think. So this may call for taking the afternoon off from work...

No time for losers

Multiple correct solutions to the Smithsonian puzzle have been entered. Mine is not among them.

Alas, I gave up too soon on picking apart the final acrostic this past weekend. I thought the final clue was needed, but it wasn't. Several people apparently deciphered it over the weekend, and I only arrived at it this morning, an hour before the last clue was to drop. Some of them solved the puzzle, but that hour wasn't enough to get me to the answer. Nor were the ensuing hours. I still haven't solved it.

This might be the answer for all I know, but I don't know why. Nevertheless, it still seems appropriate.

LONG I thought that knowledge alone would suffice me—O if I could but obtain knowledge!